On-fire Maguire back on podium at Newport Centre

01:36:00
Ramona Dragomir
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Stephen Maguire - the 2013 Welsh Open champion

It's been quite some time
since we've seen Stephen Maguire lifting the trophy of an important, major
ranking competition. Actually, if I recall well, it was back in 2008, when this
furious Scot got his hands on the China Open trophy and got to do the victory
dance.

So, it must not come as a
shock, especially since the lad has been in a pretty great shape recently
(winningno less than two PTC event this
season) that he won the 2013 Welsh Open tournament, after a thrilling
cues-crossing with Stuart Bingham, ended on a 9-8 scoreline.

It's been a genuine
roller-coaster for both players and both of them had changes to win the final,
but in the end it came down to how each of them handled pressure. And
interestingly enough, Maguire was the one who prevailed the pressure test. I
say this only because the guy has a well-known issue with pressure.

The Scotsman was the one
who broke the ice with two breaks of 71 and 62, but Bingham followed with
a 56 to win his first frame of the day. Maguire stroke again this time with a
great 114 to get at 3-1 as the interval was kicking off, but as soon as the
mini-break was over, Stu got back on track with a 79 to pull back a frame.

Stuart Bingham was soooo close to get his 2nd ranking title

Another beauty (aka. 110
break) was being created from Maguire's cue tip as he was now flying 4-2 up,
but the first session was ending on a draw, Bingham recovering with runs of 55,
78 and 41.

Hours later the lads
re-entered into the arena, warmly welcomed by the Chinese ref Zhu Ying (also known as Ivy), who is actually the first Chinese referee
in the history of snooker to get in charge of a major ranking final.

The game
began, but the story was different. Maguire's passion, fury, eagerness ... you
name it, was nowhere to be found. Instead, he started getting on by the
"hit and hope” strategy, which soon proved to be a horrible idea.

Bingham put
his nose in front, for the first time since the start of the match, with a
great 73 break and although Maguire responded with a 71 during the next frame,
he looked shaky.

So what a
better time to prove Bingham is in the final with a reason too, than now? When
his opponent was all over the place?

A brilliant
118 break was putting the 36-year-old player from Essex
back in the lead at 6-5, while a scrappy 12th frame was giving him a
two-point lead and a great start for this last session.

A Magus special

This was
when the interval kicked off and most likely when Maguire re-thought his
strategy of winning this final, for when he returned into the arena he was a
changed man. Still a bit edgy here and there, but clearly more determined, he
managed to pull back two dramatic frames.

The first
one was won on the black, while the second one got a pretty fluent 42 break as
a back-up.At seven
apiece the game was on.

Maguire
fired a break of 77 to get one step closer to the finish-line, leaving Bingham
with a lot to deal. Still, the Englishman who in 2011 defied all the odds and
won the Australian Goldfields Open in great style, managed to overcome the
pressure and forced the decider after a brilliant 58 clearance.

The last
frame, even though made a scrappy debut, had Maguire's name written all over
it. And that break of 82 points that the Scotsman hit, restated the fact that
he was in charge of the match's faith.

No surprise
to see Maguire punching the table once he knew he was leaving Bingham behind
and he had one hand on the trophy, nor the fact that when Rob Walker asked him
about the victory the intense animal from just a few minutes ago was complete
gone, in his place being just a man, a simple man ... who was just over the moon
with happiness.